The restaurant looks more like an upscale food hall with neon lights and yellow-coated industrial metal stools, and it serves Malaysian food, which is inherently a mix of Chinese, Indian, Singaporean, and Thai flavors. There is no better cuisine to illustrate what Buford Highway has become: a collage of cultures, where different is treasured and even sought out.

I have a secret fantasy: I want to spank waiters. Why? Because wine service in Atlanta, on average, is abominable. Two reasons: First, when you order a bottle, waiters are far too eager to pour through the entire thing when you aren’t looking. Hands off, garçon. I’ll pour my own wine and drink at my own speed.

Since 1961, Atlanta magazine, the city’s premier general interest publication, has served as the authority on Atlanta, providing its readers with a mix of long-form nonfiction, lively lifestyle coverage, in-depth service journalism, and literary essays, columns, and profiles.